Friday, December 5, 2014

Article by Max Farley reprinted from the Society Newsletter October 2008
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Our Public Utilities
For many years most of Ku-ring-gai has had easy access
to a range of public amenities including electricity, gas,
telephones, water and sewerage, postal services, and regular
garbage collections. Though the Lane Cove Post Office,
renamed Gordon Post Office in 1879, was established in
1860 in what are now the grounds of Ravenswood, most of
the other facilities did not begin to appear until the 1890s.
These notes tell in chronological order something of their
arrival. They draw significantly on a paper by our member,
structural engineer Ken Wyatt, which was published in THE
HISTORIAN of June 2001.

Water
From the outset, water was from creeks, rain water tanks
and wells with creeks sometimes used for doing household
washing. In 1896 the Public Works Department installed
two large water tanks at Wahroonga which were filled by a
pipe-line from Chatswood. A reservoir was built at Pymble
in 1900 and this supplied residents between Pymble and
Chatswood. A pipe-line from Ryde to Wahroonga was built
in 1905. Additional reservoirs came later at Wahroonga
(1915); Killara (1930) and St Ives (1975).

Gas
Lighting at first was mainly by kerosene lamps and candles with
cooking being done over open fires or on fuel stoves. “Slush
lamps” consisting of fat in a tin with a piece of wick were also
used for lighting. At the turn of the century, parishioners attending
evening services at St John’s at Gordon used to leave their
hurricane lanterns in the Church porch. With the building of De
Burgh’s bridge, 1896 saw the coming of gas from Ryde to Gordon
and Wahroonga. It was first used for public lighting of public
places. The Pymble News of 25 April, 1901, reproduces a letter
from the Railways Commissioners agreeing to a Pymble Progress
Association request to have gas lights installed on Pymble Railway
Station and level crossing.
Gas for lighting and cooking slowly found its way into private
homes and was used for many years until electricity came
after 1917. Even today superseded gaslight fittings can still
be seen in some of our older homes such as Tulkiyan and
many cooks still prefer gas.
The gasometer on the corner of the Highway and Ryde
Road was a feature of our landscape for many years until
demolished in the 1960s with the arrival of natural gas.

Telephones
In addition to the coming of water and gas, 1896 was
obviously a year of progress and saw Ku-ring-gai’s first
telephone line. It came from Hornsby to Mr Boyne’s store
at Wahroonga when his wife was appointed as the local
postmistress. An exchange was installed there in the
following year. The demand for telephones grew rapidly as
did the proliferation of unsightly telephone poles. Initially
many residents visited their local post office to make calls.

Sewerage
Cesspits were banned and a nightsoil service begun in 1913.
The “sanitary cart” remained a feature of Ku-ring-gai, and
most of Sydney, until well after water was piped into homes.
Depots were initially at Hampden Avenue in Wahroonga and
Koola Avenue in Killara. These depots were understandably
the source of much controversy but their sites are now valued
recreational assets. Parts of Wahroonga were “on the sewer”
by 1915 through the Hornsby Treatment Works. A pipe-line
from North Head had to cross Middle Harbour at Clontarf,
and the West Middle Harbour sub-main built, before the sewer
came to Roseville in 1927. It then connected to Gordon and
Pymble in 1929. Even so, by 1951 the sewer lines were only to
locations within one or two miles either side of the Highway.
By 1971 most of Ku-ring-gai was “connected”. As with all
these services, new and outlying areas usually had to wait longer.

Electricity
As with gas, electricity was at first mainly used for street lighting.
Sydney’s first publicly-owned power station was at Pyrmont in
1904 but cables did not come to Cammeray until 1916 and
spread north to Ku-ring-gai from there in 1917. Transformers
were put at Shirley Road (Roseville); Beaconsfield Parade
(Lindfield); Stanhope Road (Killara) and Park Avenue
(Gordon). Power was available to sites along the Highway. It
was not until 1920 that electricity was carried north from Gordon
to Wahroonga. In 1925 Ku-ring-gai Council decided to change
all street lighting to electricity instead of gas.

Garbage
Garbage collection by Council began on an experimental
and voluntary basis in 1914. The Koola Avenue nightsoil
depot was used for this purpose. The charge was sixpence
a week. An incinerator designed by Walter Burley Griffin
was opened in 1930 where the Bicentennial Park is now in
West Pymble.

Postal
An examination of the development of postal services is
beyond the scope of these notes and historical records
sketchy. Before the 1850s, residents on the north shore had
to collect their mail from the GPO and until the end of the
1850s from the North Sydney Post Office. In 1860 a Post
Office opened at Gordon with one mail a week. Individual
locations gradually were appointed as de facto post offices.
These were shopkeepers, railway stations and individuals.
Delivery services did not begin until the 1890s.

(Appreciation is expressed to Ken Wyatt for his kindness
in casting his eye over an early version of these notes.
MF)

Sunday, November 30, 2014

In addition to our regular General Meetings and Family History Group Meetings there are several Special Interest Groups that meet regularly in our Society rooms. If you have interests in any of these areas you would be warmly welcomed at the meetings of these groups.

Friday, November 14, 2014

The Society received this information from the Federation of Australian Historical Societies in their e-Bulletin No. 131 - 1 November 2014

New East Perth Cemeteries website launched

In a partnership between the Friends of Battye Library (the Western Australian collections in the WA State Library) and the National Trust, a new website has been made available giving details of 9,056 of the estimated 10,000 individuals buried in the East Perth Cemeteries between foundation in 1829 and closure of the cemeteries in 1899. Using a multitude of sources and building on the work of others before them researchers Lorraine Clark and Cherie Strickland have uncovered many previously unknown facts - such as the number of stillbirths buried among the 2929 babies under 18 months.

With a grant from Lotterywest to cover their costs, the two have photographed all memorials, and complied biographical information about the majority of those interred in the cemeteries from the newspapers (with thanks to Trove), data held within the Registrar Generals files, correspondence within Police Registers, and State Gardens Board review documents, which contained many letters from families wishing to be buried alongside their loved ones. Perth Gaol Occurrence Books, Convict General Registers, and Department of Lands records all provided information. Chipper Funeral Directors records, filmed by the Latter Day Saints, contained valuable information pertaining to previous internments and addresses of next of kin. One of the last sources consulted - which proved invaluable - was the Colonial Hospital Admission Registers owned by the Royal Perth Hospital Museum. All the information collected is now available on line, thanks to the National Trust, at www.eastperthcemeteries.com.au. An article summarizing the findings of the two researchers is also available on the Friends of Battye Library website

Monday, November 10, 2014

Of interest to those in our family history group will be this free event in the city.

Author and academic Dr Noeline Kyle who is an Emeritus Professor at Queensland University of Technology and an Honorary Professor at the University of Sydney will be presenting a talk on November 25 at The Sydney Mechanics School of Arts.Full details can be found on the SMSA website.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

In the RAHSeNewsletter 2014 October Issue 2 received by the Society there was information about a survey being conducted by The National Library of Australia. If you are a user of the New South Wales Government Gazette you might respond to the survey.NSW GOVERNMENT GAZETTE SURVEY

The National Library of Australia, in conjunction with the State Library of New South Wales, is working towards making a digitised version of the New South Wales Government Gazette from 1832-2001 available through the Trove Newspapers Service.

The Library is conducting a short online user survey on use of government gazette materials to help us better understand why and how people use government gazettes for information, so we can align with those needs.

The survey consists of 15 questions and aims to find out:- which government gazettes you consult and how frequently- the kinds of information you are seeking- if there is a difference in your use of print or microfilm gazettes and online gazettes- which ways for finding information in government gazettes are most useful to you, and- how you would prefer to make use of what you find.

Click here to access the survey, which is open until Sunday 2nd November.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Dr Ian Hoskins, who has worked as an academic historian, a curator and a professional historian in Sydney for 25 years is presently employed full-time asNorth Sydney Council's Historian, will be the guest speaker at our meeting in the Gordon Library Meeting Rooms at 2:00pm on Saturday 18th October.

Thursday, October 9, 2014

The Society just received this invitation. If you are free next Wednesday you may wish to attend.

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To whom it may concern,

On behalf of the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts, we will be holding a free event for author and journalist Frank Walker who will come in and talk about his book Maralinga. We would be gracious if you could promote the event amongst your institutions and come along!

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

The main topic for our meeting on Thursday will be blogging. If you would like to learn how easy it is to set up a blog using the Blogger software please come along to the Society room at 1:30pm. If you are able bring along your laptop and means of connecting to the internet that will allow you to create your blog on the spot. Even if you have no intention of setting up a blog but are inquisitive please join us.

There will be time allocated to answer your tech questions that needs answering or hear about any new tech discoveries you have made.

This will be our last get together for 2014 as your convenor is off on another holiday. Details of our get togethers for 2015 will be shared on this blog, our Facebook page and in the Society newsletter.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Members may be interested in the event that we were notified of in e-BULLETIN No. 129 – 10 September 2014 from Australian Historical Societies Inc.

Australian Generations Oral History Project

A number of Australian Historical Association (AHA) members are part of the Australian Generations Oral History Project which has interviewed 300 people living in Australia born between 1920 and 1989. The interviews explore Australian life and society across time, and illuminate generational change and inter-generational dynamics. At a conference in Melbourne in October the researchers will have their first opportunity to share their findings about 20th and 21st century history and memory. Internationally renowned oral and public historian Professor Michael Frisch will deliver the keynote address and the conference will feature academic historians and industry partners who form the project’s research team including Alistair Thomson, Kevin Bradley, Anisa Puri, Katie Holmes, Kerreen Reiger, Seamus O’Hanlon, Christina Twomey, Michelle Rayner and Michael Frisch.

Follow this link for more details about the conference, to be held in Melbourne on 30-31 October 2014:

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Article by Max Farley reprinted from the Society Newsletter, June 2008
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Australia’s beginnings spawned words which had particular
meanings. Knowing them is essential to an understanding of
our past. The following related to the convict era. Some were:

Assigned servants. Convicts assigned by the government
to work for nominated employers such as military men, free
settlers and, at times, emancipists.

Certificate of Freedom. Issued from 1810 to convicts who
had completed their sentences. They were allowed to leave
the colony.

Currency lads/lasses. Australian-born children.

Emancipists. Ex convicts who had completed their
sentences and were thus “free by servitude”.

Assisted Exiles. As transportation became unpopular in
Australia the English conceived the notion of “assisted
exiles”. These were convicted persons who had served part
of their sentences in England and then given conditional
pardons and sent to Australia for the balance of their time.
Many went to Melbourne.

Exclusives. Otherwise known as “pure merinos”. Those
of non-convict origin who saw themselves superior to the
convicts and emancipists.

Free settlers. Persons who came to Australia of their own
choice.

Government Servants. Convicts.

Pardons: -(Absolute) Allowed to convicts who had
completed their years of sentence. They could return to
England.-(Conditional) Could be awarded to convicts
who had been sentenced to Life and given on the condition
they did not return to England. .

Tickets of Leave. “TOLs” were given to trustworthy
convicts allowing them to work indepenndently within
designated geographic areas.

Friday, September 12, 2014

The 2014 annual conference of the NSW & ACT Association of Family History Societies opened in Wollongong today with a family history fair open to the public.A group of our members have travelled down to the 'gong for the Conference and to work on our stall promoting Kuring-gai Historical Society and our publications.These photos were taken this morning before the Fair opened to the public. Thank you to our volunteers for getting our stall set up so early.

The Society has received a reminder of the RAHS Annual State History Conference 2014

The 2014 Conference will be held at Mittagong RSL, 25 – 26 October 2014. The theme is Moving Historyand delegates will have the opportunity to discover how history is about change over time and is always moving as we respond to new information and ask questions about the past.

Bookings are now open for the RAHS 2014 Annual State History Conference in Mittagong, NSW, in October. Click here for the 2014 Booking form.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Have you heard people talking about Evernote? Would you like to know what it is? Would you like to know how it can help you with your research?
If you answer YES to any of these questions then come along to our Technology SIG meeting in the Society rooms on Thursday 11 September at 1:30pm and all will be revealed.

Evernote

In addition to discussing Evernote we will make time to share technology news and try to answer any tech questions that you may have.

Should you have any questions you would like addressed please contact Jill Ball jillballau@gmail.com

Monday, September 8, 2014

An article by Max Farley. Reprinted form the Society Newsletter, June 2008.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Roseville College, a girls’ school, recently published a history
to mark its 100 years. It was in 1908 that Miss Isobel Davies
took over Hinemoa School in Victoria Street, Roseville and
renamed it Roseville College.

This Centenary publication, Memories and Dreams – RosevilleCollege 1908-2008, was written by Denise Thomas, an
educator and historian, and includes much of interest not just to
those closely associated with Roseville College but also to
Roseville residents. On the lighter side is the revelation that in
its early days the College enrolled boys up to eight years of
age. It continued to do so until as late as 1979.

These boys included Robert and John Fowler who lived in
the nearby Firs cottage in Roseville Park, as well as Colin
Begg and Paul Toose, who became judges, and Chester
Porter QC. John Fowler, who attended from 1920, is
reported by Denise Thomas as recalling “that life was
sometimes difficult for boys attending Roseville, because
they were mocked by boys from other schools. Fortunately,
he said, the girls of Roseville College were happy to have
them”.

Though this history does not dwell on the topic, the earlier
Hinemoa School had been conducted for several years by
Mrs Maria Tingcombe who lived in Hinemoa cottage with
her husband George, daughter Dorothy, and Ellen Tingcombe,
a spinster cousin. Maria had operated the school for several
years. The name, Hinemoa, was that of a legendary Maori
maiden of noble birth and the heroine of a romantic love affair.

Hazel Perdriau remembers Armistice Day and joining in celebratory bell ringing. She also remembers Sir Ross and Keith Smith’s plane flying overhead at the end of their epic flight from England, and that the 1919 flu epidemic nearly made her and her young brother orphans.

In 1920 her parents moved to a house in Roseville where she attended the Roseville Infants School and continued there when it became a full primary school and she later attended PLC Pymble. She left school in 1928 because of her mother’s illness and the transfer of the family to a new house in Nelson Street, Gordon. She then enrolled at the East Sydney Technical College to study commercial art, however after three years she abandoned art on being invited by a friend at Sydney University to join the University Choir.

Realizing that she had a good singing voice, she commenced the study of voice and piano at the State Conservatorium of Music. Following the outbreak of WW2 Hazel assisted her mother who was president of the Gordon Red Cross and then joined the Red Cross herself to serve in military hospitals, visiting the sick and teaching crafts. She worked as an Occupational Therapist and was sent to the 113 AGH at Concord West. After about a year of part time work, she was posted full time to 104 AGH Bathurst and then to114 AGH at Kenmore with a staff of local volunteers, which enabled her to expand her activities with music therapy and pottery.

Remaining with the Red Cross after the war, Hazel gained experience with treadle looms and weaving and was sent back to113 AGH in charge of the weaving room and later the handcraft centre. When the 113 AGH was turned over to the Repatriation Department, Hazel transferred to the Occupational Therapy Department, taking charge of the pottery and art room. She also took part, with the Hurlstone Choral Society, in performances with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. In addition she attended night classes at the East Sydney Technical College to further her skills in clay modeling and pottery.

On her retirement in 1976, Hazel joined the Turramurra Garden Club and the Ku-ring-gai Historical Society, serving as secretary and president at various times in both organizations. She has been a Life Member of the Society for a number of years. She also found time to photograph every house in Nelson St, Gordon and donated to the Society a copy of the 1788-1820 Pioneer Association Register and a paper knife reputed to be made of wood from HMS Sirius. In addition she is an active member of the St. Ives Music Study Group. A very busy lady!

Saturday, August 23, 2014

The Society received this reminder email from the organisers of the NSW & ACT AFHS Conference 2014. A great learnng and social opportunity for the family historians in our midst.The Society will be having a table at the exhibition associated with the conference.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can book using either the secure trybooking service or download the form and send in completed with a cheque or do an EFT.

The cost for the standard registration will be $160.

The conference dinner (on Sat night 13/9) is a separate booking for $45.

You can also book separately for the Lambis Englezos talk (on sun 14/9 at 10.30 am) thru the website, until 14/9, for $10. If you have full or sun registration the Lambis talk is incl and you do not need to pay the extra $10. This talk is certain to be well worth listening to as Lambis will talk about the undiscovered burial site of Fromelles. If you have friends interested in this topic please recommend this talk to them.

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Dr Brendan Nelson, Director of the Australian War Memorial launched our book on July 26 and we have had some great feedback since then.

Here are some of the comments (in no particular order):

Your Volume 1 is superb and a wonderful
testament to the men and women whom it records and those who wrote it. You have
given these locals from those days a form of immortality by making their
stories accessible and coherent.

(Anzac commemoration committee member)

Lots to look at & so many familiar names.
... Many thanks to all the researchers, the volumes will be a valuable resource
for many years!

(Descendant)

I received my book and was delighted and I have
barely put it down. ...You are all to be congratulated indeed on the work and time
you have all achieved and I am so proud to have been a small part, what a
wonderful book and keepsake for my family.

(Descendant and Contributor)

Just to let you know your wonderful book is now
catalogued and in our Library. What a beautifully produced volume it is - and
what an effort it has been for you and your editorial group. You must be
exhausted, but elated. … Only people who have been involved in
publications like this can fully appreciate what has gone before. I do hope
more of those in your Society can now be inspired to lend a hand. ... Congratulations
on a job well done!

(a regional Family History Society)

I was amongst the amazing number of guests at
your book launch on Saturday. You must be very happy and justifiably proud of Rallying
the troops.

(Local schoolteacher)

Yesterday I received my copy of Rallying the Troops … It is an amazing tour de force by you and your colleagues. Great, Great, Great work!

(local author / historian)

Thank you for the wonderful opportunity to take
part in this worthwhile project.

(Contributor)

Heartiest congratulations on a ‘Job very well
done’ - the launch was very well done with wonderful speeches by Dr Nelson
and our Mayor. The book is a masterstroke and will be very much appreciated
by many.

(KHS
member)

Congratulations on this significant achievement
to you and the rest of the team.

(local community group leader)

A
very impressive book indeed.

(Contributor)

We both think it is stunning! A magnificent
tribute to all those who served in the War. Hats off and medals all round for
you and your team. You must all be thrilled at how well it has turned out.

(Contributor,
UK)

A
very important source for all Ku-ring-gai history.

(KHS
member)

If you'd like to buy a copy, please go to our website and follow the links to place an order.
We have a special introductory price of $40 for purchases before August 31, 2014.

After the results of the election were announced new President, Graham Lewis, thanked the Returning Officer, Beverley Dunstan, for her work in organising the election and the outgoing Committee Members for their contributions to the Society.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

One hundred years ago this month newspaper headlines were reporting
on the political crisis surrounding the new nation’s first-ever double
dissolution. A political assassination in the far-away Balkans in late June
seemed barely worthy of mention.

The Prime Minister, Joseph Cook, and the leader of the
Labour Opposition, Andrew Fisher, were busy preparing for a federal election.
Neither they, nor other Australian politicians could foresee the terrible consequences
of the diplomatic failures that were unfolding in Europe.

When Great Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August,
Australia, like the rest of the Empire, was also at war. The news was greeted with
nationalistic fervour by crowds in the streets of Australia’s major cities.

Australia’s reaction to news of the outbreak of hostilities is
the subject of a talk to the Ku-ring-gai Historical Society this Saturday, 16
August, by eminent historian DR MICHAEL
McKERNAN.Michael is aformer Deputy-Director of the
Australian War Memorial, a radio commentator and author of many books charting
the effects of war on Australian society.

Within a week of the outbreak of war, both of Australia’s political
leaders having pledged immediate and unconditional support, recruitment was
underway with a force of 20 000 men promised for the defence of the empire.

Thousands of young men enthusiastically rushed to enlist
with, perhaps, little understanding of what was involved, and no foreboding
that this conflict

would drag on for more than four years and cost millions of
lives.

The first shot fired by Allied forces came from an artillery
battery at Pt. Phillip heads to prevent the departure of the Norddeutscher
Lloyd cargo ship SS Pfalz just after
midnight on 5 August, 1914.

On 18 August a Naval and Military Expeditionary Force left
Sydney to capture wireless stations used by the German East Asia Cruiser
Squadron and which represented an urgent threat to merchant shipping. During
the first fighting at Rabaul in German New Guinea four Australians were killed.

Among the casualties was Capt. Brian Pockley, a twenty-four
year old medical doctor of Wahroonga and one of the more than 1300 men and
women with links to the Ku-ring-gai municipality who served in what would
become known as the Great War.

Ku-ring-gai Historical Society is commemorating the service
of these men and women by researching and writing their stories to ensure that
they will not be forgotten. Volume 1 of Rallying
the Troops, containing the war stories of those beginning with names A to F,
was recently launched by Dr Brendan Nelson, Director of the AWM.

Copies are now available from the Society (www.khs.org.au or 9499 4568)

Members of the public are cordially invited to attend the 16
August talk by Dr McKernan. It will be held in the Meeting Room, old Gordon
Public School building adjacent to the Library, corner of
the Pacific Highway and Park Avenue, Gordon. The meeting starts at 2pm and will
be preceded by the AGM. Afternoon tea will be served.

You
can pay by EFT, cheque or visit the research rooms to pay in person by cash.

Copies
will be available for purchase at the launch.

If
you pay before the launch, you may collect it on the day and have it signed.

This is no ordinary
World War I reference book.

Members of Ku-ring-gai
Historical Society have rallied to delve deep into the service and family
records of local soldiers and nurses to reveal their involvement in the Great
War of 1914-1918. This volume is the first in the series; a second and third will
be published in 2015 and 2016.

In the municipality of
Ku-ring-gai in northern Sydney over 1,300 men and women served from a
population of just over 12,000. They came from all walks of life, from
labourers to university lecturers. Their origins were diverse, not only from
the immediate locality but also from other parts of New South Wales, from other
states and from other countries.

Their achievements
were many; one in every ten was decorated. Their losses were great; one in
every five did not return. What all did for their nation is monumental.

The Society has
endeavoured to do justice to these veterans, to tell the stories that many
never lived to tell or were unable to tell. The telling became a passion; it
engendered pride and sorrow, anger and despair. Yet each and every story
deserved to be told, to be recorded for all time.